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Ecological disasters
Ecological Disasters in Apocalyptic Literature Natural disasters, such as floods, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes, have always been a feature of apocalypses which end humanity as we know it. From oral flood myths to more recent sci-fi novels and films, nature has always had a habit of reestablishing itself as the ultimate master of mankind. At the close of the 20th century, Al Gore fought to convince the public and educated world that global warming was slowly changing our world, further adding to the fear of an ecological end to our society. Books Read more at: Environmental Disaster Cat's Cradle ''by Kurt Vonnegut The narrator befriends the young son of the scientist who discovered a substance known as ice-9. Ice-9 freezes at room temperature and causes any water it touches to turn to ice. A crystal of this is dropped into ocean, causing all water to freeze. Subsequently all life on earth dies. ''The Burning World by J. G. Ballard A drought caused by industrial waste depletes the earth's water supply. This causes people to move closer and closer to the ocean in an attempt to find water after the precipitation cycle has been destroyed. The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner Pollution reaches level so extreme that everyone is affected. A combination of poor health, sanitation, food supply, and oppressive government eventually cause a riot by the labor class. The White Bird Of Kinship by Richard Cowper After a catastrophic rise in sea levels due to global warming and the greenhouse effect, a boy has to lead the survivors out of the apocalyptic age into a new age of enlightenment and happiness. ''Adam and No Eve ''by Alfred Bester An inventor takes off into space but releases a catalyst that causes a chemical reaction that burns the entire surface of the earth. With his ship falling back to Earth, he contemplates suicide out of guilt. Eventually he lands and realizes he is the last person on Earth and can never repopulate on his own. Infected with bacteria, he crawls to the ocean so that the bacteria can initiate the evolutionary process once more after he dies. ''The Death of Grass ''by John Christopher A virus strain affects rice in West Asia and then begins to affect staple crops across the world like wheat and barley causing a mass famine. As England descends into anarchy, John and his family make their way across England hoping to get to his brother's potato farm. Along the way, they pick up many companions and are forced to sacrifice many morals. When John's brother refuses to let them live on the farm, John kills his brother and takes over the valley. ''Year of the Cloud ''by Kate Wilhelm and Ted Thomas The world goes through a cloud that causes water to turn to a gel that is not fit for consumption and contaminates all forms of life. Warring governments find themselves pooling all their resources in an attempt to discover how to decontaminate the water. ''A Dead God Dancing ''by Ann Maxwell A planet is burning away due to the sun having reached its life span. A five man rescue team races across the Mauve desert to find an ancient and powerful god to save them before their world burns away. Films ''The Day After Tomorrow ''(Roland Emmerich 2004) Due to global warming, a series of natural disasters take place around the world. Japan is hit by a hail storm. Los Angeles is hit by tornadoes. New Delhi is hit by a blizzard. New York is hit by a thunderstorm that turns into a large blizzard. The world eventually goes into a new ice age. ''A Town Has Turned To Dust ''(Rob Nilsson 1998) Years after the apocalypse, the world is separated into two camps. One camp is a camp that scavengers for metals, and the other camp is a camp that is the descendants of Native Americans. Violence ensues when one of the men falls in love with another man's wife in this post-apocalyptic film. ''A.I. ''(Steven Spielberg 2001) In a world with androids programmed to be as similar to humans as possible, global warming causes the sea levels to rise, and drastically reduces the population. A massive ice age destroys human life. ''The Last Night ''(Don McKellar 1998) The world is ending, suggested throughout the film to be caused by the sun. The main characters complete their last night alive on Earth. This doom has been anticipated for several months, and the characters each find their own ways of dealing with "the end". ''The Last Woman on Earth ''(Roger Corman 1960) Harold, his wife Everlyn, and his lawyer Martin go scuba diving. When they resurface it appears as though the crewmen have died of asphyxiation. They find that they are unable to breathe without their scuba tanks. However, they discover that the island's jungle apparently gives off sufficient oxygen. Once ashore, they attempt to make radio contact with any other survivors, but soon come to realize that they are in fact all alone. ''A Crack in the World ''(Andrew Marton 1965) Scientists attempt to drill a deep hole into earth's crust in order to tap into geothermal energy reservoirs at the core. However, the scientists are stumped by a dense boundary of material in the middle, so the chief scientist, Sorenson, whom is secretly dying of cancer, decides they should detonate an atomic bomb in order to reach the core. The bomb instead creates a massive crack in the Earth's crust. A second atomic bomb only reverses the crack's direction. Sorenson and his wife, Maggie, barely escape in time to observe the birth of the second moon as the bomb explodes.